A celebration of Ludwig van Beethoven, marking the composer's 250th anniversary year.

To discuss what sets Beethoven apart from other composers, John Wilson is joined by pianist Stephen Hough, poet Ruth Padel, Oxford Professor of Music Laura Tunbridge and conductor Sir Simon Rattle, who says of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony: "It is too much of everything!... this is a composer inventing the music of the next one hundred years"

Throughout 2020 Simon Rattle will be conducting Beethoven with the London Symphony Orchestra, starting in January with Symphonies 7 and 9 and the rarely performed Oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives.

Stephen Hough's recording of the complete Beethoven Piano Concertos will be released later this year, as will Laura Tunbridge's major biography of the composer.

Ruth Padel's collection Beethoven Variations: Poems on a Life is published at the end of January.

Radio 3 is celebrating Beethoven’s 250th anniversary with a year-long series, Beethoven Unleashed, launching on 13 January with Composer of the Week.

Presenter: John Wilson